Abstract: A standardized rapid inventory method providing information on both tree species diversity and aboveground carbon stocks in tropical forests will be an important tool for evaluating efforts to conserve biodiversity and to estimate the carbon emissions that result from deforestation and degradation (REDD). Herein, we contrast five common plot methods differing in shape, size, and effort requirements to estimate tree diversity and aboveground tree biomass (AGB). We simulated the methods across six Neotropical forest sites that represent a broad gradient in forest structure, tree species richness, and floristic composition, and we assessed the relative performance of methods by evaluating the bias and precision of their estimates of AGB and tree diversity. For a given sample of forest area, a 'several small' (< 1 ha) sampling strategy led to a smaller coefficient of variation (CV) in the estimate of AGB than a 'few large' one. The effort (person-days) required to achieve an accurate AGB estimate (< 10% CV), however, was greater for the smallest plots (0.1 ha) than for a compromise approach using 0.5 ha modified Gentry plots, which proved to be the most efficient method to estimate AGB across all forest types. Gentry plots were also the most efficient at providing accurate estimates of tree diversity (< 10% CV of Hill number). We recommend the use of the 0.5 ha modified Gentry plot method in future rapid inventories, and we discuss a set of criteria that should inform any choice of inventory method. © 2012 The Author(s) Journal compilation © 2012 by The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation.

Abstract: The electrochemical behaviour of 254 SMO super austenitic stainless steel in natural seawater collected from river mouth of French Guiana was investigated. A comparative study of samples immersed during 22 days in this environment was made including influences of scraped biofilm introduced in experiments and of stirring. Electrochemical measurements – open circuit potential (OCP), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear polarisation (LP) – are used to characterize the metal/medium interface included biofilms adhesion. The EDX analysis (EDAX system) shows that the chemical composition of adhered biofilm consists mostly of iron, oxygen, silicon and aluminium and seem preferentially bind on metal defects. © 2013 by ESG.

Abstract: Characterizing the trophic relationships between large herbivores and the outstanding plant diversity in rainforest is a major challenge because of their elusiveness. This is crucial to understand the role of these herbivores in the functioning of the rainforest ecosystems. We tested a non-invasive approach based on the high-throughput sequencing of environmental samples using small plant plastid sequences (the trnL P6 loop) and ribosomal ITS1 primers, referred to as DNA metabarcoding, to investigate the diet of the largest neotropical herbivore, the lowland tapir. Sequencing was performed on plant DNA extracted from tapir faeces collected at the Nouragues station, a protected area of French Guiana. In spite of a limited sampling, our approach reliably provided information about the lowland tapir's diet at this site. Indeed, 95.1% and 74.4% of the plant families and genera identified thanks to the trnL P6 loop, respectively, matched with taxa already known to be consumed by tapirs. With this approach we were able to show that two families and eight new genera are also consumed by the lowland tapir. The taxonomic resolution of this method is limited to the plant family and genera. Complementary barcodes, such as a small portion of ITS1, can be used to efficiently narrow identifications down to the species in some problematic families. We will discuss the remaining limitations of this approach and how useful it is at this stage to unravel the diet of elusive rainforest herbivores and better understand their role as engineers of the ecosystem. © 2013 Hibert et al.

Abstract: Ripley’s K function is the classical tool to characterize the spatial structure of point patterns. It is widely used in vegetation studies. Testing its values against a null hypothesis usually relies on Monte-Carlo simulations since little is known about its distribution.
We introduce a statistical test against complete spatial randomness (CSR). The test returns the p-value to reject the null hypothesis of independence between point locations. It is more rigorous and faster than classical Monte-Carlo simulations. We show how to apply it to a tropical forest plot. The necessary R code is provided.

Abstract: Aim Many tropical tree species have poorly delimited taxonomic boundaries and contain undescribed or cryptic species. We examined the genetic structure of a species complex in the tree genus Carapa in the Neotropics in order to evaluate age, geographic patterns of diversity and evolutionary relationships, and to quantify levels of introgression among currently recognized species. Location Lowland moist forests in the Guiana Shield, the Central and Western Amazon Basin, Chocó and Central America. Methods Genetic structure was analysed using seven nuclear simple sequence repeats (nuSSR), five chloroplast SSRs (cpSSR), and two chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) intergenic sequences (trnH-psbA and trnC-ycf6). Bayesian clustering analysis of the SSR data was used to infer population genetic structure and to assign 324 samples to their most likely genetic cluster. Bayesian coalescence analyses were performed on the two cpDNA markers to estimate evolutionary relationships and divergence times. Results Two genetic clusters (nuguianensis and nusurinamensis) were detected, which correspond to the Neotropical species C. guianensis (sensu latu) and C. surinamensis. Fourteen cpDNA haplotypes clustered into six haplogroups distributed between the two nuclear genetic clusters. Divergence between the haplogroups was initiated in the Miocene, with some haplotype structure evolving as recently as the Pleistocene. The absence of complete lineage sorting between the nuclear and chloroplast genomes and the presence of hybrid individuals suggest that interspecific reproductive barriers are incomplete. NuSSR diversity was highest in C. guianensis and, within C. guianensis, cpDNA diversity was highest in the Central and Western Amazon Basin. Regional genetic differentiation was strong but did not conform to an isolation-by-distance process or exhibit a phylogeographical signal. Main conclusions The biogeographical history of Neotropical Carapa appears to have been influenced by events that took place during the Neogene. Our results point to an Amazonian centre of origin and diversification of Neotropical Carapa, with subsequent migration to the Pacific coast of South America and Central America. Gene flow apparently occurs among species, and introgression events are supported by inconsistencies between chloroplast and nuclear lineage sorting. The absence of phylogeographical structure may be a result of the ineffectiveness of geographical barriers among populations and of reproductive isolation mechanisms among incipient and cryptic species in this species complex. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.